My Queen
by cantmesswithDantless
Summary: Holly Blacks Tithe from our beloved male faerie Robien. How does he fall for Kaye? Does he really love her?
1. Prologue

**_I own nothing that is written here that it also in Holly Blacks Tithe, Holly has done an amazing job of writing Tithe and I thought I could just take it on in a different view_**

Hey Guys this is my first Fan fiction so try to be nice, leave comments there great for my next chapters. Enjoy  
-M

_Prologue __  
__ "And malt does more than Milton can  
To justify God's ways to man"  
A.E. H__OUSEMAN__,  
"Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff"_

_I knew I was dreaming. The surroundings of the dream were different but it had the aura of something familiar. In my dream I was lying, against a large tree trunk, with only the tree to keep me supported. It was raining. Big, fat drops of water landing all around me, streaming down my face. I could feel my long, wet, pewter hair clinging to the side of my face. Why was I here? What was I doing? Big puddles of muddy water and blood were engulfing the earthy ground and my armour._

_I examined myself. I was wearing my black, sturdy armour, which was almost completely covered with mud; I peered at the wound on my chest, grabbing hold of the branch that was stuck inside me. I tried to move but my body but it refused. Every part of me burned. I could taste the foul flavour of blood in my mouth and the overwhelming stench of iron. I gripped my sword, and got ready to fight. I looked around at my surroundings; it became apparent that I was alone. I stared into the green, dense forest in front of me, probing for any sign of life. I knew who I was looking for; the dream was all too familiar, it wasn't the person who had tried to kill me, it was the person who would save me._

_I heard the sound of shoes squelching in the thick mud and pivoted my head around so that I could look in the direction that the noise had come from, but I didn't get far because my whole body ached. Finally I caught a glimpse. Slowly the figure began to emerge from the forest. I recognized her straight away; she was the girl who had somehow found her way into my dreams. Who is she? Why is she here? What does she want from me? She walked with ease and grace towards me; it appeared as if she was floating. When she was ten meters away from me she stopped, like she had just suddenly seen me. She stood looking at me, her expression confused me; although she was smiling, she did not appear to be happy. I tried to open my mouth and speak to her, but just like every other time, I couldn't talk. My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and not one noise came out. She was still smiling but she hadn't even tried to speak. _

_ She seemed to be waiting for me. To do what? To find her? To help her? She looked so out of place. She was wet, but not covered in mud like me. She was wearing a skirt that didn't even reach her knees, black thigh-high stockings that appeared to be ripped down the side, of one leg and a clean, wet pink leopard leather coat. I could not see her face clearly, I never could. It was a blur and the more I focused on it the more blurry it became._

_I wondered if she was going to help me or if she would just continue to stand there. Of course she would help me. She had helped me in one of my other dreams. Perhaps these dreams were a sign. A sign that she needed my help, or one that I needed hers. I would find her. But how?...__ I didn't even know her name. Perhaps, by some decision of fate, I would find her without even trying._

_I woke covered in a cold sweat. The dream was fading rapidly till all that was left was that intimating smile. I racked my brain for a glimpse more a memory of the dream that was perishing from my mind like sand falling through fingers. Someone was pounding on my door, and the Queen must want something from me, more torturing for ones twisted sense of humour, how she could she find amusement in the death of humans, they die so quickly, so easily. It made my stomach churn at the thought of the things done here. _

_The Queen sat on her throne staring down at me. "Rise" the iciness of her voice chilled me to the bone.  
"What would you have me do my Lady" I tried to keep the hate out of my voice but it crept in I hoped she didn't notice and make a fool of me.  
"I need you to perform a task for me" What would she have me do slaughter eight young children in front of her.  
"And what does this task entitle my Lady?"  
" You must fight this human" she indicated to the young man staring transfixed at her. "And make his death as slow and painful as possible." I stared stock still and couldn't move, why was my Queen asking this of me she knew I hated her tasks but at least they aren't in front of her, I couldn't hide the disgust from my face. "As you wish my Lady" _


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

_"Coercive as coma, frail as bloom_

_Innuendoes of your inverse dawn suffuse the self;_

_Our every corpuscle becomes an elf."_

_ —Mina Loy,"Moreover, the Moon."  
The Lost Lunar Baedeker_

_I sat at the long wooden tables in the queen's court, I still wore my black armour, and how did I kill that innocent. He hadn't done anything and his death was slow and painful. I shook my head to clear the image of my blade sliding into his leg then his arm. He wouldn't stop screaming I wanted to silence him but the queen just kept staring at me, daring me. "No" I told myself, I tried to forget it but that only brought back  
_memories of the smile and the confusing irritating dream. Who was the girl and why was she appearing in my dreams.

Kaye and her mother had been staying at her grandmother's a week already, and even though Ellen kept saying they'd be leaving soon, Kaye knew they really had nowhere to go. Kaye was glad. She loved the big old house caked with dust and mothballs. She liked the sea being so close and the air not stinging in her throat.

The cheap hotels they passed were long closed and boarded up, their pools drained and cracked. Even the arcades were shut down, prizes in the claw machines still visible through the cloudy glass windows. Rust marks above an abandoned storefront outlined the words SALT WATER TAFFY.

Janet dug through her tiny purse and pulled out a wand of strawberry lip gloss. Kaye spun up to her, fake leopard coat flying open, a run already in her stocking. Her boots had sand stuck to them. "Let's go swimming," Kaye said.

I couldn't take it anymore; the queen had taken it too far, killing innocents so close to the tithe. I couldn't help but think what the solitary fae were thinking, did they think she was doing this for them. I shook my head in frustration and stood up pushing the delicate hardwood bench back and knocking over the red wine in front of me. I didn't bother to clean it up or even attempt to move the bench back. I had to clear my head of today and my solution was to storm off.

I had gotten as far the edge of the solitary fae's forests when I heard my attacker. I swung around to face them only to be greeted by darkness and howling I ignored the feeling in my stomach that was telling me to stop and fight this unknown darkness but I was in no heart to listen I just wanted to forget or blissfully ignore.

I kept walking trudging onward. It had begun to rain by then big, fat drops. The rain had made my pewter hair stick to the sides of my face and the wind was whipping around me. The world was almost peaceful outside the storm that's when I knew something was wrong. The rush of wind signalled to me the problem seconds before it pierced my chest just below my collar bone.


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

The pain was amazing and I truly believed that it was going to end right there and then but somehow I made it through past unconscious and moved myself so that I was leaning against a massive tree base.

_I examined myself. I was wearing my black, sturdy armour, which was almost completely covered with mud; I peered at the wound on my chest, grabbing hold of the branch that was stuck inside me. I tried to move but my body but it refused. Every part of me burned. I could taste the foul flavour of blood in my mouth and the overwhelming stench of iron. I gripped my sword, and got ready to fight. My brain started wheeling it all seemed to unrealistic, flashes appeared before my eyes the smile what I had been trying to forget flashed and stayed before my eyes. Slowly the whole dream came back and before I knew it I was searching for her I knew she was coming I could feel it in my stomach._

_I must have fallen asleep or passed out because the next thing I knew I could hear the squelching of shoes and mud. I looked towards her she was more beautiful than words could describe; her Asian completion was complemented with flowing blond hair that must have been fake but the roots were as blond as the rest of it. She stopped and looked around. _

_"Stay where you are" she visibly jumped at the sound of my voice. She turned and stared at me now that I could see her face I just wanted to get up and kiss her but I wouldn't she was a human and I was a fae, stronger, faster, better in every way. "Was it you girl?" the look on her face was of pure surprise, I knew it wasn't her but I knew she would have to reply and then force us to speak. "So you haven't come to finish me off?" she shook her head, staring at me. I liked the blood that lay on my lips, "Pity" I wondered what she was thinking, did she know what I was, I highly doubted she didn't. Just then she took a step towards me, I twisted out of her grasp and landed in a crouch, it hurt but it was safer. I glared at her my hair falling across my forehead. _

_"You're a faerie, aren't you?" her first words to me, felt like warm honey, she raised her hands in front her in the sign of peace. Again I wondered what she thought did she find me as beautiful as I found her. I hadn't moved when she held a hand out towards, "Let me help you." I shivered it took so much energy to hold this stance. My sword that I had pulled out when I first heard her was gripped in whitened hands. She hadn't taken another step but kept going on her speech. "You're going to bleed to death." I didn't reply I just stayed like that staring at her until I couldn't hold it anymore and slumped down onto one knee and fell forward, clutching the arrow my eyelids drooping. _

_I didn't hear her come closer, but now I could see her she was almost touching me. "I cannot draw the arrow myself." I whispered, "They are waiting for me to bleed a little more before they come against my blade." And whoever it is going to pay. "Who is waiting?" She said she didn't seem to believe that someone had shot me. "If you would help me, draw this arrow." Shaking my head, "If not, then push it in as deep as you can and hope it kills me." She sounded shocked "It will bleed more." I tried to laugh but it was choked off, "Either way, no doubt." I knew this was the end she would be the one to kill me. I gave up there and then and sild so I lay against the oak, waiting to see how she would kill me. Her fingers flinched, she was going to do it, "I can't do it." She whispered, why she most people, fae or mortal would relish in killing me. "What do they call you?" maybe she wasn't going to kill me maybe I could convince her to help me, she really did seem harmless. "Kaye" she said, the name suited her, "I'm Robien" I hope she understood that we fae didn't give their names out, as they could be used to control us. "Give me your hand." Holding out my hands. "Just close you're hand on it and let me pull." I said trying to make it easier for her, "you don't even have to look. As long as I'm not touching it, I might be able to draw it out." The look on her face was one of concern I wondered what I did to cause that look. "I'll do it," she said. So whatever I said or did was the right thing to do because now she was helping me. _

_I let go of her hand as she gave the branch a tug, the pain was outstanding, and I looked down and found that the arrow had only come out a tiny bit. "Again, Kaye" I said as she moved herself, and pushed herself up onto one knee, than she yanked again. I cried out in pain as the branch slid from my chest. I placed my hands on the wound, and when I raised them again I found them covered in blood. "Very brave," I said to Kaye, she throw the stick away. "We have to stop the bleeding. How does your armour come off?" what was she on about, did she want to fix me completely? "Straps" I said with a groan as I leant forward. She moved around behind me, her hands running over my back looking for the buckles. Once she found the buckles she removed my breast plate and unclipped it from my shoulder and leg-plates. "Let the rain clean it." _

_I didn't even hear her rip her top and only felt her place them on my chest. "I didn't even hear you rip the cloth." "You have to try to stay awake." She said, "Is there somewhere you can go" I shook my head; I wasn't going to let the girl into the kingdom. I pick up a leaf that was sitting next to me, and I wiped it against my breast-plate that lay next to me filling with water. The leaf was covered with my blood. "Drop this in the stream. I – there is a kelpie there – it is no sure thing that I will be able to control her in this weather, but it is something." She nodded, and reached to take the leaf. I didn't let go quite yet. "I am in your debt. I mislike not knowing how I must repay it." "I have questions…." I let go of the leaf. "I will answer three, as full and well as is within my power." She nodded. "When you drop the leaf in the water, say Roiben of the Unseelie Court asks for your aid." "Say to what?" she asked "Just say it aloud." She nodded and walked off. _

_She came back with a black horse following her. "Were in you, in would stay clear of the Folk, in the future. We are capricious people, with little regard for mortals." Her eyes flickered over him. Then asked "Did something happen?" "Don't waste your questions." Then the horse moved underneath me, and I was off, I was going back to the Unseelie court. With an unrepaid debt._

_Kaye knelt and picked up the branch with its iron tip. Her finger ran up the rough bark and touched the too-warm metal. A shudder went through her, and she dropped it back in the mud. The woods were suddenly menacing, and she walked as quickly as she could back toward the road. If Kaye started running, she didn't think she'd be able to stop._ _Kaye crept into the living room._ _She caught her own reflection in the hallway mirror, mascara and glitter eye shadow smeared across her cheeks and under her eyes, running in crusted and glittering streaks that looked like they were made by tears. Her lipstick was smudged and dull, arching across her left cheek where she must have wiped it. And went up to her bedroom and went to sleep, she allowed herself to think of him, to think of the solemn, formal way he had spoken to her, so unlike anyone else. She let herself think of his flashing eyes and crooked smile._


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

_"A cigarette is the perfect type of perfect_

_pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one_

_unsatisfied. What more can one want?"_

—OSCAR WILDE, _The Picture of Dorian Gray_

_Roiben awoke with the feeling of dread, he hadn't repaid the debt yet and it was painful, he had never not repaid a debt straight away he had only heard how painful it was and now he was feeling it, it was excruciating, I had to find her and repay the debt, but all I knew about her was her name, and what she looked like. Even though I had found her the dream kept haunting me like there was more to what happened last night then I first thought, but what more could there be. A loud rapping noise at my door woke me from my thoughts. I got up from my bed and walked to the door, I noticed that I hadn't changed out of my amour; I must have fallen asleep in it. _

_I opened the door and there was no one there. But on the floor was an envelope, then I remembered I had asked one of the servants of the Court to find out who shot me so that I could punish them. I never thought that I was so cold hearted, but honestly I wanted to go and say thank you. Under the name of the name was a note from the Queen saying I was to kill this evil so that he/she can't hurt my servant again. The Queen was a pain. But I was her servant and will do as she said as I don't have much say in the matter. I looked at the name and left to find this Gristle. I grabbed the arrows from beside the door and went off to kill the man who tried to kill me. _

_Kaye looked around her bedroom. Her clothes lay in drifts on the floor, most still in the black garbage bags. All the furniture was the same as it had been when she was four, child-size white furniture, pink walls, and a reproachful, glass-eyed army of dolls arranged in the bookshelves._

_Kaye had to find Gristle and Spike. She hadn't ever needed to call them before. They'd always been around when she had needed them. But that was when she had been little, when she had believed in everything, before her legs stuck out over the end of the bed and she had to bend over to see her face in the dresser mirror. Kaye sighed. She guessed that she wasn't really unicorn-pure anymore. Maybe that kind of thing mattered._

_I stormed around the forest from last night the murder might not have moved he might have stayed where he shot me from. I scanned the trees and found a clue, a small ribbon of blue. Last night in the storm I wouldn't have been able to see the ribbon, but now it was as clear as day. I walked over towards the ribbon and lifted it to my nose I took a deep breath in and smelt him. Then realised that he wasn't far away and followed his trail. _

_I found him running away from the group of dogs that the queen had sent out to find him, I raised my bow and aimed at him sadly I wasn't going to be able to thank him but, I would end his misery. The arrow sailed with precision and hit the pixie square in the chest and he fell forward, already dead, blood slowly seeping out of his chest. That was when his friends popped out from there hiding places and realised what had happened and burst into action, they raced up towards me and stopped. "Why did you kill Gristle?" one of them asked. "I killed the one you called Gristle because the Queen told me to and I cannot disobey the Queen. Although I did not want to kill the one you call Gristle all I wanted to do was thank him but the Queen said I was to kill him." I replied. "Why ever in the world would you want to thank Gristle he shot you last night and knew it would come back and haunt him, but he said it was for the best and it was the right thing to do by her?" the other one said "I wanted to thank him for shooting me, causing me grate pain but that's not why I wanted to thank him, but because his pain caused me to meet the most beautiful mortal, to who I wish to see again." Then the one who had just spoken disappeared into the forest. "I am sorry that I had to kill him but I had too, now you know I wish you farewell and best wishes, I will be on my way." And I turned on my heel and left. _


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

_"All day and all night_

_my desire for you_

_unwinds like a poisonous snake."_

_—S__AMAR__ S__EN__, "Love"_

_Kaye was sitting at the edge of Janet's bed when she felt a small stone bounce off her knee. Then she realised it was an acorn, Kaye pulled lightly on the acorn cap, and it came loose. Inside the nutshell, all the meat was gone, leaving an empty space where a slip of paper was coiled. Kaye removed it carefully and read the message written in a pinkish red ink: "Do not talk to the black knight anymore, tell no one your name, everything is danger. Gristle is gone. We need your help, meet you tomorrow night. LL&S"_

_What did it mean, Gristle is gone? Gone where? And the black knight? Could that be Roiben? She hadn't been talking to anyone else that fit that description. What did it mean, that everything was danger?_

_When Roiben woke on Monday he knew he had to repay the debt to Kaye, only he didn't know where she was. And declared that he was going to find that girl and he would find her today. And walked out of his house and down towards the Queens chambers on my way I found one of the servants of the court, as much as I didn't like this court the servants listened to me and did it as quickly as possible. So for once living in the__ Unseelie wasn't a bad thing. "Could you please find a mortal by the name of Kaye she lives in this town. Once you have found her" the centaur interrupted me "Bring her to you, young prince." "No I just want to know where I can find her, so you must place a tracking spell on the girl. Will you be able to do that?" He bowed down on his horse legs so that he was below me. "Yes I can do that for you, it will be done before you know it." Then he raced off to find Kaye for me._

_When I reached the Queens chambers she was waiting for me. "Did you kill the traitor." She said as I walked towards her, she was very much the shadow tree she was named after. "Yes my Queen, I killed him. I hope your pleased." I replied as I remembered how I didn't want to kill G__ristle and only wanted to talk to him and thank him. "Good that traitor will not hurt you again. And let that be an example for others like him." The queen was pure evil; I have seen her worst and seen her best, which isn't much better. I turned and walked towards the door because I had enough of the queen, I hated her, she stole me from my home and now I could never go back, I wouldn't be accepted. But before I reached the door, the queen stopped me. "And once you have found this girl, you are to bring her to me for the Tithe, she sounds like the perfect candidate." I don't answer her, I just I had closed the door behind myself, did I notice the __centaur bowing down in front of me? He handed me a small slip of white paper that swirled rainbows. "Just say your name and the courts name and the place your girl is will appear." He said without raising its head. "Thank you, you may go now." Then it scampered off again. _

_Kaye fled to the bathroom, locking herself in a stall and sliding into a sitting position on the dirty floor. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought it might beat its way out of her chest. The space was too small for pacing, but she wanted to pace, wanted to do something that would work answers out of her tangled mind. Magic, if there was such a thing, should not work like this. She should not be able to enchant someone she barely knew without even deciding to do it. Taking a deep breath, she left the stall. She went to the sinks and splashed her face with water from the tap. Looking up, she saw her own reflection in the mirror, faded red Chow Fat T-shirt spattered with dark droplets of water, eye makeup smudgy and indistinct, blond hair hanging in tangled strands. Something caught her eye as she turned away, though. Approaching the mirror, she looked at her face again, closely. She looked the same as ever. Kaye shook her head and walked to the door. For a moment, she had thought that the face she saw in the mirror was green. _

_Once Roiben had found the café where Kaye was, did he walk in and look around the room. She didn't seem to be anywhere. That was when Kaye she walked out of the bathroom. Her eyes downcast and her face flushed like she had been crying. She went and sat down with the friends that she had come here with and took a gulp of coffee. That was when Roiben approached the table. "Your pardon, Kaye," I said trying to get her attention. Kaye lifted her head and her face was full of astonishment, like she couldn't believe that he was there much less real. That was when one of the boys interrupted my thoughts.__"Who's the Goth?" Roiben heard one of the boys say. What was a Goth? "Robin, I think his name is," The girl sitting next to Kaye, replied glumly. Roiben raised an eyebrow when he heard that, but he went on. "May I speak with you a moment?" That was when she go up and walked to an empty table but she didn't sit down. _

_I reached into my coat and pulled out the black shirt that she had used on me when we first met. "I came to give you this." And I smiled the one that only came out when I was thinking about her. "It's your shirt, back from the dead." How would she take a joke? "Like you," she said. I nodded, my heart fluttering. "Indeed." Then she destroyed the moment. "My friends told me not to talk to you." It shocked him, but calmly continued, "Your friends? Not, I assume, those friends." His eyes flickered toward the booth, and she shook her head and replied.__"Lutie and Spike." So that were the names of the other two fae's I had encountered yesterday. "I killed a friend of theirs. Perhaps a friend of yours." She didn't seem that surprise at what I had said. "You killed Gristle." I nodded I knew who that name belonged to. "How? Why? Why are you telling me this?" He couldn't meet her gaze as he spoke. "Is there some excuse that I could give you that would make it better? Some explanation that you would find acceptable?" "That's your answer? Don't you even care?" "You have the shirt. I have done what I came here to do." My anger boiling over the debt would have to wait. Kaye grabbed his arm and moved around to face him. "You owe me three questions." Roiben stiffened, but his face remained blank, he didn't want to do this now, with her angry and I frustrated. "Very well." "Why did you kill Gristle?" Her first question seemed silly, but then so where mortals. "My mistress bade me do so. I have little choice in my obedience." Roiben tucked his long fingers into the pockets of the coat.__"Right," Kaye said. "So if she told you to jump off a bridge…?" "Exactly." There was no irony in his tone. "Shall I consider that your second question?" That was when he realised she was shaking. "Why don't you…" The anger was clear on her face, she had one more question I could feel the weight lifting off my shoulders, once she had got her answers I would never see her again. "What's your full name?" "What?" what was she thinking I hope she knew what she was making me do? "That's my third question: What is your full name?" I could tell she had gotten what she wanted I didn't want to do this and she seemed please her. My eyes clouded with fury "Rath Roiben Rye, much may the knowledge please you." "It's a nice name." she replied to my answer, "You are too clever by half. Too clever for your own good, I think." At that her eyes narrowed to slits, "Kiss my ass, Rath Roiben Rye." Oh dear god. I was compelled to do as she said. I grabbed her arm as she tried to wave me off by throwing her other hand toward my face. He threw her forward. She shrieked. She fell forward connecting hard with the stone floor. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. He pulled at her jeans hard at the waistband and pressed his mouth against the exposed swell of her hip. _

_Then everything stopped as I rose from my crouch and she slipped on the tiled floor, everyone in the café was staring at them. That was when one of Kaye's boy friends came over to help her up. Before he reached them he spoke to Kaye in a matter-of-fact tone, "That is the nature of servitude, Kaye. It is literal minded and not at all clever. Be careful with your epithets." My exit was stopped by the boy who had come to help Kaye. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" he said as he bent down towards Kaye. "Ask her," he said, indicating Kaye with his chin. "Now she knows exactly who I am." He turned and walked out of the diner no one was going to stop him now. _


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

_"I ate the mythology & dreamt."_

_—Y__USEF__ K__OMUNYAKAA__, "Blackberries"_

_As Roiben walked back into the Unseelie court, I knew that there was something wrong, I had repaid the debt but I also told Kaye my full name, I knew that would come back and haunt me. She would be scared of me too now because she used my name and controlled me to do things that I otherwise wouldn't do._

_I was honestly afraid when I was summed to Queens's throne, because I hadn't done as she wanted and for that I would be punished. I looked around the throne room trying to relax, she wouldn't punish me I kept saying like a mantra. When I reached the throne, I knelt down in front of the throne and waited. "Raise" the Queens voice broke my mantra, "Where is the girl?" I tried to look up at the queen but I couldn't, "I didn't bring her here." I said my voice wavering. "Why ever not, didn't you find her?" "No my lady, I found her but I got angry at her and forgot to bring her back." Then I realised that us getting angry at each other, may have just saved her. "Well that's unlucky: I have a job for you." "What is the job?" I asked how is she punishing me now. "You need to bring me some helpless animals so that I can have some fun." She is really punishing me. "As you wish." Then I walked out._

_I walked out into the forest in which I meet Kaye, and started searching for animals, I held my bow ready to shoot and as a small white rabbit hopped out in front of me I shot it and killed it. I picked it up and took the rabbit back to the queen. The whole idea of this was making my stomach reach, not only did the queen kill mortals, she destroyed them too making a wonderful poet crazy or a beautiful painter go insane and draw thousands and thousands of images of the queen. _


End file.
